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Peter Moylan signs with Dodgers on minor league deal

The 34-year old right-hander has been limited to 21 games pitched in the last two seasons combined due to back and shoulder surgeries.

By Eric Stephen
Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

The Dodgers have added to their list of non-roster invitees to spring training with the signing of veteran relief pitcher Peter Moylan to a minor league contract. Mark Bowman of MLB.com was the first to report the deal.

Moylan, 34, has a career 2.59 ERA in 260⅔ career innings, with 207 strikeouts and 114 walks in seven seasons, all with the Braves. He hasn't had an ERA north of 3.24 since 2006, but he has pitched 13⅓ major league innings in the last two seasons combined.

Moylan missed a bulk of 2011 after back surgery, and his return was cut short by shoulder problems. He had shoulder surgery later that year and didn't return to a major league mound until rosters expanded in September 2012.

"I was almost in tears to be honest," Moylan told MLB.com of his call-up. "I wasn't expecting it. I wasn't sitting there hoping I was going to be called up in September. I thought my season was over. I was going to go to Norfolk, pitch in a couple more games and go home."

Surgery is nothing new for Moylan, the Australian who burst onto the scene as a 28-year old in 2007. After making his debut with 15 innings in 2006, Moylan put up a 1.80 ERA in 90 innings for Atlanta in 2007, the first of three seasons he pitched at least 80 games. Moylan had Tommy John surgery in May 2008, but recovered to pitch 87 and 85 games out of the bullpen for the Braves in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

When healthy, the sidearming Moylan is an extreme worm killer, with a ground ball rate of 63.9% in his career. Of the non-roster pitchers signed by the Dodgers to date, Moylan is the most interesting, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him in the Dodgers bullpen when camp breaks.

His signing with the Dodgers puts a series of tweets by the pitcher in a whole new light. Starting on Dec. 26:

That tweet prompted questions of a possible signing, but Moylan was quick to squash the rumors.

Moylan then added, for humor:

I guess that meeting went well! Moylan did appear to enjoy his vacation, and hopefully he can steer clear of any douchebags should he make the team.

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